Recent Awards (list from the past decade)
Archive of previous newsletters
March 2024 Newsletter
Student Organization News |
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GameTunes Unleashed: Videri String Quartet Residency From March 28th-30th, the Music in Games Society will be hosting a residency for the Videri String Quartet, a revolutionary, classically trained string quartet dedicating their focus to the performance of video game music. Their residency at the Jacobs School of Music will provide a suite of amazing activities such as video game music lectures, chamber masterclasses, arranging workshops, and concerts in collaboration with members of JSOM and the Music in Games Society, including several current students in the JSOM Composition and Music Scoring for Visual Media departments. Click here for more information about the residency and events, including the Videri X MGS Video Game Music Concert at the FAR Gallery (505 W 4th St, Bloomington, IN 47404) on March 30th at 6:30pm! |
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Alumni News |
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Benjamin Taylor (DM ’14) Recent Premiere Dr. Benjamin Taylor’s new work, Aurum Tetra: Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Ensemble was given a consortium premiere on February 20, 2024 by the Indiana University Wind Ensemble under the direction of Eric Smedley. This performance featured the stunning talents of IU student saxophone quartet Blitz. The three movement work totals 23 minutes in duration and is a wind band transcription/adaptation of the original work commissioned by the Barlow Endowment. Please visit benjamintaylormusic.com to explore more Dr. Taylor’s music and recent happenings. |
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Keith Fitch (BM ’89, MM ’92, DM ’95) Receives Awards, Commissions Keith Fitch was named the recipient of the Ellis-Beaureguard Foundation Composer Award, which carries with it a $50,000 commission for the Bangor (ME) Symphony, to be premiered in March 2025. Additionally, in February, he was named as one of four recipients of the annual Arts and Letters Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which includes a cash prize, money to be used toward a recording of one of his works, and a concert featuring his music in spring 2025. Also in February, he received his third Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council. He also recently completed a commission for the required work for the Modern Snare Drum Competiton, to be held in May in Cleveland. |
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Matt Ridge (BM ’20) Grammy Win Matt Ridge received a 2024 Grammy Award as an arranger for the Best Instrumental Composition. Ridge arranged John Williams’ score from Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, including the award-winning piece “Helena’s Theme.” |
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Mischa Zupko (MM ’98, DM ’03) Named Fermilab Guest Composer Chicago-based composer and accomplished pianist Mischa Zupko has been named 2024 guest composer by the Fermi Research Alliance. In collaboration with scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, the Civitas Ensemble in Chicago and saxophonist Timothy McAllister, he will create music to interpret particle science in new ways. Zupko will not only collaborate with scientists on his Fermilab composition, but also with fellow chamber musicians Winston Choi, piano; Yuan-Qing Yu, violin; and Ken Olsen, cello, who are the members of the Civitas Ensemble, and guest Timothy McAllister, saxophone. |
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“Phoenixes” at the National Gallery of Art On February 11, the U.S. Army Band will perform a chamber music concert at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. featuring works by IU alum composers, Will Trachsel (DM ’21) and Daniel Whitworth (MM ’22), conducted by alum, Alex Tedrow (MM ’23). In this free public concert, titled “Phoenixes,” musicians from The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” celebrate challenges and the growth that comes from them and to our shared human experience. All works on the program are by living composers. |
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Texu Kim (DM ’15) receives the Fromm Foundation Commission and Carnegie Hall Performances Texu Kim has been selected among the 2023 Fromm Music Foundation Commission recipients. This March, two pieces of his will be presented at Carnegie Hall: on Sunday, 3/10, the New York Youth Symphony will perform “Dub-Sanjo,” and on Tuesday, 3/26, Alarm Will Sound will perform “Līlā” (preview concert in St.Louis on 3/22). Additional performances of his works include those of “Dub-Sanjo” by the Minnesota Orchestra (3/8 – 3/9), “Ritus Sanitatem” by the IU-Alum Verona Quartet (3/18 & 3/21), and “Spin-Flip” by Philharmonia (3/21). |
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Trinity Fan (BM’ 23) Awarded MTNA 2nd Prize in Composition Trinity Fan (BM ‘23, Piano Performance) was recently awarded Second Prize in the 2024 MTNA Composition Competition for her piece, “Reminiscence,” written for piano. The piece is mainly inspired by Tchaikovsky, Kapustin, and “the lick” and was written between August 2022-December 2022, and revised in June 2023. A video to her performance of the piece can be found here. During her studies at IU, she was a student of Edward Auer and took composition lessons with Shuyu Lin, Corey Chang, and Wong Chun Wai. She was also formerly Vice President of IU MTNA and a faculty member of IU’s Young Pianist Program. Trinity is currently pursuing a masters degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Michigan where she also works as a Graduate Student Instructor. Trinity now studies with Christopher Harding and jazz piano with Andy Milne. |
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Student News |
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Anne Liao Performances of hypothetical particles Anne’s hypothetical particles for light.void~, flashlights and live electronics continue to receive performances: at IRCAM Forum Workshop in Paris France, Performing Media Festival in South Bend, SEAMUS/ Sweetwater 2024 in Charlottesville as well as Electronic Music Midwest 2024 in Lewis University in February and March. |
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Daixuan Ai Commissioning Consortium A new music commissioning group, East Zodiac, has commissioned a piece for Bb clarinet and alto saxophone from Daixuan Ai as part of their 12-year zodiac collection. The project plans on commissioning a different Asian composer for each year of the zodiac series. This year’s commission for The Year of the Dragon will be premiered in concert on Sunday, April 7th at 2:00 pm at the University of Michigan School of Music. As part of fundraising efforts, a new consortium for this work has been made available to anyone interested in supporting its creation. Consortium members receive exclusive performance rights and recognition in the score. You can join the consortium, donate to support the project, and follow the project online. Visit the East Zodiac website for more information. |
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Kian Ravaei March Performances Icarus Quartet will premiere Kian Ravaei’s Superhuman at Music in the Valley on March 3. Additional performances include Navazi, performed by Tallā Rouge at Strathmore on March 14, and a new arrangement of Gulistan, performed by Fleur Barron, Anthony McGill, and Gloria Chien at String Theory at the Hunter on March 26. |
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Miles Swaminathan in the Running for the Music International Grand Prix’s Adult Original Composition Competition Finals in New York City Miles Swaminathan, a sophomore studying Piano Performance with Prof. Jean-Louis Haguenauer and Composition with Corey Chang, passed the Quarterfinal round of the Music International Grand Prix’s Adult Composition Competition, and was invited to compete in the Composition Semifinal Round on February 3rd with his 2023 work “What Lay Beyond the Dark and Desolate Lands” for Violin, Cello, and Piano. He will be notified on March 10th of his status and potential invitation to the April 26th Finals in New York City, where he’ll have the opportunity to compete with his work for a chance to perform at the April 27th Winners Concert at the Kaufman Music Center’s Merkin Hall in New York City. Additional information about Miles Swaminathan can be found on his website, and watch the debut performance of “What Lay Beyond the Dark and Desolate Lands” here. |
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New Work by Cooper Wood to be premiered on Eclipse Concert Cooper Wood’s Celestial Bodies for five instruments will be premiered on the Solar Eclipse Celebration Concert in Auer Hall on Sunday, April 7th at 8PM. This piece was selected in a call for scores that included adjudicators from the departments of Musicology, Composition and Astronomy. The committee cited its “approach to texture and atmosphere” as a striking feature of the work. To keep up to date with Cooper’s projects, visit his website. |
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Performance for Wesley Thompson Wesley Thompson’s piece for pierrot ensemble, titled Conscious Streams, will be performed at the 53rd Annual Ball State New Music Festival. The three-movement work is slated to be on the Saturday evening concert (March 16th) at 7:30 PM in Sansa Hall and will be performed by Indianapolis-based ensemble Forward Motion. Experimenting with unexpected and abrupt changes of character borrowed from the writing style of similar name, Conscious Streams was premiered at the 2022 Brevard Summer Music Festival. To read more about Thompson’s activities, visit his website here. |
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Recent Grant Award for Yeoul Choi Yeoul Choi (b.1995) was selected as one of the 6 finalists of the ARTZenter Emerging Composers Completion Grants program. On January 5th, she had a public reading and workshop with conductor Eric Dudley and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. Her new piece, Eye of the Earth for chamber orchestra was performed and recorded along with mentorship by composers Richard Aldag and Mark Gustavson. This piece is inspired by her father’s three poems and composed into three movements. |
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